Nothing fancy here, just tried and true, old fashioned, family style recipes from my kitchen in Alaska.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

HOMEMADE FRESH NOODLES

The title of this post is my "gentle protest" in the noodle vs. pasta debate. I grew up calling them noodles, but all of the cooking shows call it pasta. Is there a difference? Perhaps the word pasta makes it sound fancier? Oh well, call me old fashioned I guess.I've been playing around with homemade noodle recipes since I got a little hand crank noodle roller for Christmas. This latest recipe uses all semolina flour and it was SO much easier to work than recipes that use all purpose flour. The back of the semolina flour bag suggested using the full sheets of this dough (uncut) for lasagna (without boiling) which I am looking forward to trying.

Combine the semolina flour and salt; add the beaten eggs, water and oil. Mix to make a very stiff dough. Knead for 10 minutes or until dough is elastic (I did this with my stand mixer). Cover with plastic and let the dough rest for 30 minutes (important)..
After 30 minutes of resting, turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured counter. Don't use too much flour on the dough before you put it through the machine, just enough to make it not sticky.Start with pieces of dough about the size of a golf ball, maybe slightly larger. Flatten it out with your hand and taper one end of the dough so the machine will be able to "catch" the dough easily. Roll the dough through your machine on the lowest number two or three times (it will get longer each time)..
Set your dial to the next lower number and run the dough through again. Do this a couple times. My final machine setting was #3 and it was just right for fettuccine noodles..You can air dry these noodles at this point or you can boil it like any other noodle; it takes a lot less time to cook if you don't dry it. Drain and use like you would any other noodle. NOTE: You certainly do not HAVE to have a machine to roll out this dough. I have made many noodles by rolling out small balls of dough on a floured counter with my rolling pin. Just make sure you roll them out nice and thin then cut with a pizza cutter.

18 comments:

Hi ColeenI have never attempted to pasta from scratch. Congratulations great work.According to Google and the experts, the word pasta comes from Italian pasta which means basically "paste", but also "dough", "pasta", or "pastry" (as in small cake). Today the word "pasta" is reserved for Italian-style noodles in English-speaking countries, while the word "noodle" has a more general meaning, including many similar Asian products. The word noodle actually is derived from the German Nudel, meaning pasta.Have a great Sunday ♥

Coleen, once again we are on the same wavelength. As I was grocery shopping yesterday I picked up some semolina flour with the idea that I was going to make homemade NOODLES. I didn't learn to call pasta "pasta" until much later in life. I eat egg NOODLES not egg pasta, grins. It's all good :)

Thanks for posting this recipe. I also make all my "noodles and pasta". I have not tried any using just the semolina flour but will now. I do have a couple of recipes that call for semolina but it's usually in addition to bread or AP flour.TFSDonna

I'm like you. I still call them noodles or macaroni. Yours look so good. What kind of a noodle roller do you have? I remember helping my grandmother make homemade noodles 50 years ago. She used to roll them and cut them by hand. Then she would hang them over the backs of her chairs to let them dry. I sure do miss her. Thanks for this recipe.

I've always thought that way also and a debate as to where noodles really originate(Asia or Europe). Nevertheless I must salute you for your effort, all my works in creating an edible noddles is always distress.LOL. Glad you've share this one.